Pick of the Brown Bag
June 15, 2023
by
Ray Tate
Yup. I managed it. Another posting of the Pick of the Brown Bag. In this column/blog I review comic books, movies, sometimes prose novels and whatever media tickles my fancy.
The POBB used to be weekly, but due to time constraints and my--ahem--own laziness, I haven't mustered my full Brown Bagginess. I'm working on it.
This week I cast my eye upon the completed mini-series Voyagis, from Image. In a change of pace, I'll try to layout the factors that led me to buy this book.
The cover of the first issue immediately attracted my attention.
The blue alien, Sen, is indeed the star. The art inside the comic matches the beautiful designs on the outside. Illustration inside and out doesn't need to be by the same artist, but the quality of the art must be favorably comparable.
The entirety of Voyagis happens to be a complete Sumeyye Kesgin production. Kesgin even provides the lettering. Ellie Wright partners with Kesgin for the colors.
A flip-through indicated that Voygagis is not filled with lots of talking. Unless the book is meant to be a philosophical masterpiece, I see oodles of verbiage in what's supposed to be a visual presentation as detriment.
Kesgin relies on the optical delights to convey the action.
Sen and her friend Zakk, the green alien, seek out salvage on their planet Modia and in its orbit. There's a twist.
Plants are perhaps more valuable than metal. I've seen the opposite concept play out in the Doctor Who episode "Creature from the Pit," but I haven't seen a plant-value-based universe before. So, bonus points for originality.
The plants play a variety of roles in the story. One sentient tumbleweed type amusingly named the Dude is Sen's pet and watchdog.
Another fuels her gun. It's subtle. So you can easily miss it, though present on the cover.
Sen's and Zakk's pursuits put them at odds with an imaginative Big Bad named Mr. Primoris and his robotic henchman Plabot, which I pronounce as Play-Bot.
At first, Plabot attacks just because it can. Primoris however takes a special interest in Sen. The intensity of the attacks increase, but under no circumstances may Plabot murder Sen.
Stressed and/or damaged at the end of the first issue, Sen succumbs to unconsciousness in orbit and dreams.
In the second issue, those dreams evolve. Sen dreams of surroundings familiar to we readers but not to a blue alien inhabiting the planet Modia.
At this point, the reason for Sen's dream state remains elusive. It all started when she spotted an object familiar to readers, but not to blue aliens inhabiting the planet Modia, floating in space.
In a fairly exciting sequence, I mean, technically it's just a recovery operation, Sen and Zak manage to snag the mystery object. That action however leads to a whole bucketful of problems.
Our heroes manage to scrape out enough power to reach their home. Sen gives her prize to Comba, a technician/analyst and Zakk's love interest.
As analysis of the object begins, Sen once again falls into la-la-land and the lands of her dreams. I give Kesgin a lot of credit. These drop-offs could have easily been tiresome and repetitive. His timing and the vividness of the dreams keeps the reader invested. The dreams are important. You just don't find this out right away.
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Voyagis issue three builds on the surprise hinted at in the final scenes of issue two. Sen's dreaming leads to an encounter with Joy (Joi).
Sen believes she's interacting with a figment of her imagination. So does Joy.
Is Voyagis then the old puzzle by Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi? Am I a person who dreams that she's a butterfly, or am I a butterfly who dreams that she is a person? The enigma is all sleight of hand. What's really going on is much more intriguing.
While Joy hosts Sen, or visa versa, Zakk, Comba and Sen's adopted tribe discover the wonders of the object Sen so determinedly sought to recover.
It's refreshing, though I doubt original, to see aliens that look like aliens being the ones to imagine the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Namely us.
For the fans of space pulp, don't worry, Kesgin hasn't forgotten about you.
Taken to Mr. Primoris' headquarters, Sen learns interesting details about the artificial intelligence, a real one, that seems to give Primoris the edge.
Voyagis issue four presents the rescue. Zakk isn't about to let Sen die. And so vibrant, violent fireworks ensue.
Hopelessly outgunned, Sen dopes out a clever solution and a means to answer all the questions about her youth and her value to Mr. Primoris.
Now, Voyagis becomes even more intriguing. It seems that Sen's value integrates with the newly discovered planet Earth. Kesgin furthermore makes use of the vast distance, and time dilation that occurs between worlds. In other words, you never see the stars, even our sun, as they are. Because of the speed of light, you're seeing them as they were.
This issue provides the big reveal of Primoris. Just what is he hiding under that cloak.
I'll not spoil the visual, which is spectacular, and should be seen for yourselves.
In the conclusion to Voyagis, Kesgin crafts superb answers to all the nagging questions. Who is dreaming who? Are both Sen and Joy real entities? What is Primoris up to? Why is Sen so important to him? Hint. He's not her father, nor any other relative. How will Sen's tribe, if true, survive? Modia is an inhospitable world.
The dreams are more substantial than the reader thinks. They're a warning and a promise. As well as cutting edge science fiction, with a particulate of freshness.
